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Trees Made Real – Clayton State’s Third Annual Arbor Day Celebration, April 21

Trees Made Real... Clayton State University's Third Annual Arbor Day Celebration will be held on Tuesday, Apr. 21, starting at 10 a.m., just off the parking lot for the Clayton State Athletics Center. Although the forecast for Tuesday is sunny, in the case of rain, the event will be moved indoors to the Athletics Center.

The Arbor Day Celebration is held as part of the University’s 2014 Tree Campus USA® recognition. Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota, honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.

This year's event, which is planned by the University’s Tree Committee and Reynolds Nature Preserve and is open to the public, will feature planting 54 trees, mostly in the area between the Athletics Center and North Lee Street. This year's featured tree is the Swamp Chestnut Oak. During the past year, the Clayton State Office of Landscape Management has been growing Swamp Chestnut Oak and Sawtooth Oak seedlings in pots in preparation of Tuesday’s event.

The day will also feature keynote speaker Corlis Cummings, Clayton State vice president for Business and Operations, visits from local school children, guided tours of the Plants of the Piedmont Trail (located between Spivey Hall, the Music Education Building and Swan Lake) by Clayton State Professor of Biology Dr. Jere Boudell and members of Clayton State’s SEEDS chapter, stickers, and refreshments for all attendees. An annual highlight of the event is the Paint Station, located adjacent to the featured tree planting area, and featuring the artistic talents of Clayton State Facilities Management’s Mike Baldemor in decorating flower pots for the children to plant their seedlings.

Following the ceremony, additional seedlings, both Swamp Chestnut Oak and Sawtooth Oak, will be planted at various locations throughout the woods as part of the CSU Service Learning Project.